Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Elizabeth Shackelford
Elizabeth Moore came from a loving, strongly connected family. As Executive Director of the Children’s Safety Center of Washington County, she leads the charge to provide a supportive base for children from all backgrounds.
As she swings open the door of the brand new home of the Children’s Safety Center of Washington County, Elizabeth Shackelford is positively beaming.
It’s no wonder, since the $15 million building has been a long time in coming and Shackelford, as its longtime executive director and president of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas’ board of directors, shepherded the vision and journey from CSC’s first location, where the nonprofit spent 26 years.
The Children’s Safety Center of Washington County now stands half a mile from Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Springdale. It serves children who have been abused by coordinating investigation, prosecution and treatment services through the help of child advocates, forensic interviews, sexual assault examination, mental health therapy and child abuse prevention training. The new building has dedicated spaces for each and every aspect of that circuit of care.
“Raising the funds and everything coming together … has just been a full circle,” Shackelford said. Inside, the lobby of the center radiates with natural light due to a bank of large windows. Vibrant, cheerful art made by Arts One Presents hangs on each wall.
Dangling from the ceiling are wavy lines that represent the lines found in hands, a nod to the iconic handprint that each child makes upon their first visit. This particular way of denoting a handprint seemed to Shackelford and the artists who collaborated on it as less overwhelming than being confronted with hundreds of handprints upon entering the space, though you see those in other parts of the building.
Intimate waiting spaces near the front are comfortable and replete with toys, making it an inviting area for a family or two to sit. “Our idea was this needs to be soothing and relaxing,” she said. Some waiting areas are more private, designed to give families time and space as they process allegations and begin to speak with
“Elizabeth has given countless tours of both the old and new campus, driven all over the state, helped with scores of handprints, made tons of speaking engagements, shaken a plethora of hands, is constantly writing thank-you notes, staying late or heading in early and I’ve never heard her complain, not once. I think it’s because children right here in Arkansas are hurting and she wants to make that pain go away.” —Scott Shackelford
an advocate or therapist.
At the former location on Emma Avenue, the center could only have two therapists on site, while in the new location they have room for four therapists and two on contract, as well as a group therapy room. In group therapy, they have hosted a number of groups based on a particular need they’ve seen, such as an immigration group, a parents group, LGBTQIA+ and others. The most wonderful thing, Shackelford said, is that children and their families are not charged for therapy.
On Oct. 30, 2023, the opening day for the new location, the Children’s Safety Center saw seven families and every single space was used, from the forensics center to the kitchen, where they make meals and snacks as they get to know new clients.
“Everyone was able to get their job done, and we weren’t on top of each other,” Shackelford said. “It just made the environment so much healthier and energized because everyone could do what they needed to do.”
GIVING HEART
One thing everyone who knows Elizabeth Shackelford well seems to agree on is that her genuine care for others makes her both good at her job and an ever-supportive friend outside of it.
“The work of CSC is hard work emotionally and with it brings unique challenges for the staff and their partners,” said Brittney Duke, secretary of the CSC board of directors. “Elizabeth navigates these situations thoughtfully and with humility. She is always open to others’ input and seeks guidance of those around her. She has the ability to bring balance to a conversation and navigates challenges with a sense of calm and clarity.”
Emily Rappe’ Fisher, CSC director of development, said Shackelford’s superpower is that she genuinely cares about people, wants the best for everyone and gives everything she has to others. That supportive attitude is what helps carry the staff through at times.
“She loves to celebrate,” Fisher said. “Any kind of win, birthday, anniversary, either work-related or personal, with her staff, whether we hit our Dream Big goal or (whatever it is), she’s really good about celebrating and (saying) thank you.”
Duke and Shackelford met about 20 years ago as they helped put on the American Heart Association’s Paint the Town Red fundraiser. Duke recalls a small group of girls on that committee being in the same phase of life, just starting their careers and with like values. She found Shackelford to be incredibly thoughtful and kind.
“She makes everyone near her feel like they are the most special,” Duke said. A few years ago, Duke was in and out of the hospital for months as she underwent treatments. “Elizabeth showed up in all the ways: bringing my family and I lunch, always eager for a girls’ night when I needed it, finding ways to make me laugh and leaving surprises often … to let me know she was walking right alongside me.”
One of those was a tray engraved with “you are so strong” in Shackelford’s handwriting. Duke said she looks at it every day and is encouraged by it still.
Jennifer Irwin first met Shackelford in college, when the two were Chi Omegas. Their paths continued to cross again and again until they became dear friends.
“She always had a philanthropic heart or spirit,” Irwin said. “She’s always truly been one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. She always did things for me and others that meant something and [was] just acutely aware of what people needed. She’s one of those who knows what people need before they do.”
What Shackelford should be most proud of, Irwin said, is the relationships she’s built over the years with friends, donors and the staff of the CSC. Irwin hears from the staff about what a great boss Shackelford is to them and believes she’s had an enormous impact on the center, bringing it to new heights and ultimately making it what it is today.
“Elizabeth has a great team, and that’s based on the relationship she has with the staff, the board and community … She’s one of the most remarkable people I know,” Irwin said. The capital campaign for the new building continued throughout the pandemic. “The fact that they were able to raise money to their goal and then some, who does that? Their mission speaks for itself. It means a lot to a lot of people.”
A beautiful aspect of CSC, Irwin said, is that it goes beyond the forensics and therapy, extending to providing snacks and drinks, Christmas presents, stuffed animals and so many extras, something indicative of Shackelford’s style of helping others.
Anne Jackson describes Elizabeth as one of the most thoughtful people she’s ever known.
“When you first meet her, you feel that,” Jackson said. “She’s warm, inviting, calm, caring and authentic.”
The two once worked together at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas, where Shackelford showed respect in the delicate way that she approached anything new she brought to the organization. She learned how things had been done and got familiar with everyone’s workload, all indicators of the “fantastic leader she would become for an organization.”
On Jackson’s 30th birthday, Shackelford and her husband picked her up in the middle of an ice storm, saying they were going to take her out for dinner. They made a quick detour for a “forgotten wallet” and wound up at their house, where they had coordinated many of her friends and loved ones for a surprise party.
Jackson, who is executive director of Arts One Presents, says Shackelford’s love for and taste in art says a lot about who she is.
“She has such a cool aesthetic that shows you who Elizabeth is: bright fun, patient, tenacious and engaging,” she said. But most of all, she should be proud of her love for her family, which Jackson calls unmatched. “The way she shows up as a wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister and aunt is admirable. She beams with pride when she talks about her family, and their love of Elizabeth/Liz/ Aunt BB in return speaks volumes about who she is as a person: present in their lives and in those of her friends and colleagues.”
Husband Scott Shackelford first met Elizabeth in the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Fayetteville program in the fall of 2005 and recognized her special ability to put people at ease.
Her smile, then and now, radiates kindness, thoughtfulness and a down-to-earth demeanor, he said. “If you listen to Elizabeth talk for even a few moments, instinctively you trust her and after a few minutes, you start to believe you’ve known her your whole life.”
Scott said his wife has always been interested in helping people, that it’s a fundamental part of who she is, and that she’s been taking the mission of CSC to heart since her first day on the job.
“Elizabeth has given countless tours of both the old and new campus, driven all over the state, helped with scores of handprints, made tons of speaking engagements, shaken a plethora of hands, is constantly writing thank-you notes, staying late or heading in early, and I’ve never heard her complain, not once,” Scott Shackelford said. “I think it’s because children right here in Arkansas are hurting, and she wants to make that pain go away.”
A HAPPY HOME
Elizabeth Moore grew up in the Heights in Little Rock with her two younger siblings, Jacque and Richard. Her father, Dick Moore, was an attorney who was on a number of boards of directors. Her mom Beverly was active in Junior League and spent much of her time taking the children on field trips and participating in charitable events.
Her parents’ different strengths passed down to her in various ways. Her mother, the good writer, would help Elizabeth edit her school papers. And her father’s quick draw to write personal thank you notes stuck with her, a lifelong habit she adopted from him.
Throughout Elizabeth’s childhood, she always played tennis. Basketball and volleyball were her additional sports in junior high. At first she attended Holy Souls School, then Mount St. Mary Academy.
“I wasn’t the athlete in the family, but I loved (those sports) and hanging out with my friends in high school,” Shackelford said. She also loved her history classes with teacher Mary Logan. “I learned so much from her; she made it interesting.”
When Elizabeth turned 16, she became privy to the rule in the Moore household that the kids had to work and get good grades to earn their driving privileges. She won the right to a car by taking up babysitting the children of her parents’ friends and working at Foster Cochran, a gift shop down the street. She also babysat for one of the store’s owners, Brenda Majors.
Elizabeth loved meeting people, but she wasn’t sure how that would translate into what she wanted to study in college and eventually turn into a career. Her mother thought she would make a good elementary school teacher and encouraged her toward that. But by the time she secured a place at the University of Arkansas, she thought she wanted to be an attorney like her father, so she entered as a pre-law student.
Once in Fayetteville and taking those classes, Elizabeth learned it wasn’t the right major for her and switched to a master’s program in elementary education. Eventually she admitted to herself that it wasn’t what she wanted to do either. She just wasn’t sure yet what her path was. It took something less academic to steer her in her ultimate direction.
While at UA, Elizabeth pledged Chi Omega. She had run for various leadership positions at St. Mary’s and never won, so when one of her pledge sisters asked if she would be willing to be nominated as president of Chi Omega for PSI Chapter, she wasn’t immediately confident about her prospects. But it worked out. Elizabeth was selected president, and she loved every aspect of the role she kept during her senior year.
“I loved getting to know the members better, I loved the leadership,” she said. That year coincided with the Chi Omega Centennial Founders Weekend, which gave her the opportunity to speak at different events throughout the celebratory weekend. “It gave me this whole confidence.”
Through the experience she realized that what she really wanted to do was nonprofit work. Elizabeth graduated with a degree in communications and moved back to Little Rock for two years. Her dad was still asking her what she was going to do, and the answer was still “I can do anything!” She just didn’t quite know how to break into the field of philanthropy.
Elizabeth met with people at the foundations and nonprofits her parents were familiar with, but without any career experience under her belt, those organizations kept offering only volunteer work and internship positions. To earn money for the time being, she took a job with Alltel and was placed in the finance department as an assistant. She ran reports and did the job, but ultimately it was not her strong suit.
The realization coincided with one of her best friends moving back to Northwest Arkansas for graduate school, so Elizabeth decided to move back as well, joining plenty of her friends here. She left to work for Arkansas Business as an advertising coordinator.
DREAM BIG
Each day Elizabeth reported to the business journal’s tiny office above Tim’s Pizza. While working for Darin Gray, she found an exemplary leader and learned a lot from him in a short amount of time.
“He was so open,” Shackelford said. “He had conversations with me, and I could go to him. That’s how I’ve modeled a lot of my (leadership) over the years. I want my team to talk to me, to stop and listen to them and be intentional.”
Next she was hired by the American Heart Association, where she received a lot of training and began to develop her fundraising experience, both the raising of money and throwing events. It appealed to the side of her that loves a challenge, but even more so the building of relationships and meeting new people, which truly excites her. While doing the Heart Walk one year Dan Ferritor, the former chancellor of UA, was the chairman. He gave her a piece of advice that she took to heart.
“He reminded me that you have to raise the money, but you’ve got to be educating,” she said. “To me that is so important. While yes, we have to raise the money as a nonprofit, we have to be able to educate and understand what we’re doing and educate the community so that they understand the need.”
Shackelford worked there for a year, then found herself in need of a break from fundraising. She became marketing director for Romance Diamond Company, but missed having a cause to champion. It made her realize her calling. She returned to AHA from 2002-2006. Then, after a brief foray as development director for Big Brothers Big Sisters Northwest Arkansas, she went to the Children’s Safety Center of Washington County in 2008.
When Elizabeth started at CSC, what she thought of as child abuse in her mind was still primarily physical abuse. Beginning the job meant opening her eyes to the sexual abuse and neglect of children. On her first tour, the symbolic handprints were an immediate wake up call.
“I don’t know if I understood that it was sexual abuse primarily” that led children to need their services, Shackelford said. Or “that these were children of all ages, ethnicities, all socio-economic backgrounds. It just shocked me.”
Many days early on, when she would leave the center, she would call her mom on the drive home, freshly grateful for the loving parents, good schools, great friends and family friends that she’d had.
Then in October 2009 the CSC board of directors asked Elizabeth to be the executive director. She was 35 at the time and fully felt the weight of that invitation. She was overwhelmed and wasn’t sure if she could do it, so she asked her mom’s advice.
“Mom was like, ‘Elizabeth, you’ve sort of been doing the different roles. Why not take a chance? Do you want someone to come in and tell you how to do things when you have been doing that?’” Shackelford said. A letter she received from her soon after said, “Your dad and I are always here if you fall.”
Shackelford took the leap and said she’s learned every day of the 16 years since. To begin to live with the constant nature of the work, which can at times be heavy, she kept making those calls to her mom.
“I wasn’t the advocate or in direct contact with the caregiver, but what I’m doing is helping those children, and that’s what keeps me going,” Shackelford said. CSC sees a lot of successes, including when children graduate from therapy, or whenever she helps on call. “I’m at peace that any little bit of help getting to the center [means] someone is going to do everything in their power to help that child.”
Scott Shackelford said Elizabeth is responsible for thousands of positive outcomes across thousands of lives and has spent decades putting smiles on countless faces.
“Liz has so much to be proud of,” he said. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t consider Elizabeth Moore to be at least a friend, and I can understand why.”